Human rights and Disability

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Major issues: human rights and inclusion
The disability movement identified human rights and inclusion as major issues in the fight for equal rights and participation of disabled people. International human rights treaties are needed to set a global framework and direction for the equal rights of disabled people worldwide. Governments will then have to implement these treaties in national legislation. National and local organisations will be able to build upon these legal frameworks to develop truly inclusive movements and services for all.

What does inclusion mean?
Inclusion is applied to a variety of fields such as education, employment, society in general or international development. Inclusion means the acceptance of all people and is not limited to disabled people but also includes other marginalized groups such as immigrants, women, poor people or people with HIV/AIDS.
In the disability field the concept is best known through inclusive education or inclusive development, promoting the consideration of disabled people in all aspects of school or international development.

Human Rights
“Disability is a human rights issue”. This statement made by the former UN Special Rapporteur for Disability characterizes the activities pursued by many international and national organisations and governments. In 1992 the UN publicised the “Standard Rules on the Equalization of Opportunities for People with Disabilities” which were not mandatory, but were taken by a number of governments to shape their national disability policies. NGOs made use of the Standard Rules to define their fields of activities.

In a unique international effort, the UN is now working on a Comprehensive Convention for the Rights of Disabled People. This convention is planned to be ready for debate in the General Assembly in September 2005, and will make the year 2005 an important year for disabled people worldwide.

Despite all the activities in the field of human rights, there are still many unanswered questions

Although there is an international agreement about the need for an international convention for the rights of disabled people, it is not yet clear how this convention will be implemented and how governments and organisations can bring the convention to life. The magnitude and complexity of the UN convention for the rights of disabled people makes it difficult to find a starting point and to develop tools to monitor the convention.